cold weather tire PSI

[professor gascan]

Took the bike for a ride today, mid 50's, sunny, not too bad.

I was wondering if you should run different pressure for colder weather than warmer weather?

What say you panel?

[SemperFudge]

I'd like to know also.

[Motofool]

Originally Posted by professor gascan

........I was wondering if you should run different pressure for colder weather than warmer weather?

It seems that carried load is more important:

http://faq.ninja250.org/wiki/What_ti...hould_I_use%3F

Tires tend to roll dangerously under-inflated during winter season:

http://www.accuweather.com/en/weathe...her-on-t/41518

[josefmd]

Originally Posted by professor gascan

Took the bike for a ride today, mid 50's, sunny, not too bad.

I was wondering if you should run different pressure for colder weather than warmer weather?

What say you panel?

You don't run different psi's during cold wx, but of course you should check and adjust inflation when the temps go up and down quite a bit.

[wanarace94]

Always check before you go out for a ride. I seem to find my tires loose some pressure so I just fill them back up. Did this on all my dirt bikes over the years when I would ride on ice in winter and things would be just fine from my experiences. I could be wrong also.

[alex.s]

i dont think cold pressure is really all that important... hot pressure is what you care about... the pressure of the tires when the tires are at the temperature they will maintain with your riding style and the current conditions... the difference between hot pressure and cold pressure (a tire that was just being used for an hour vs a tire that hasn't been used all day) will vary a lot (up to 5 or 6 psi) depending on a lot of different things (tire pressure, tire load, riding style) so trying to base your pressures on cold pressures will be inaccurate. instead you should relate your qualitative observations to hot temperature readings as it is with that pressure that you will be using your tires.


in other words, if your ideal traction for the tire is reached when the tire is hot and running at (for example: ) 30psi, then in the winter when you receive a larger cooling effect and are not pushing the tire as hard, the tire will remain colder meaning a lower psi, meaning that what was a hot 30psi before is now a hot 28 or 26psi... now lets not forget that when its lower psi (or higher load) the tire carcass deforms more, putting in more heat to the tire (which can cause tearing) which is yet another thing to consider... but then don't forget that in the wet the larger contact patch effects the way the water is able to get out of the way of the tire... larger surface area with a low CF from water with the same surface normal force means less traction.

i'm no expert and really know nothing about the topic but there are some guys who really know their ****

[csmith12]

If I am reading between the lines right here, I think what he is asking is; "Does cooler/cold weather affect what you want your operating tire pressure to be"? The technical answer is no. However many personal factors play into this, for me in the winter months in KY, I do add a few more lbs to my tires knowing that I will not be riding as hard. And vise versa for the really hot summer months.

I am with alex on this.